KILLING OF LASANTHA WICKRAMASEKARA ALIAS “MIDIGAMA LASA”: POLITICAL ASSASSINATION OR GANGLAND EXECUTION?

The investigation, spanning from Weligama to Kekirawa and ending in Nawinna, showcased an unusual blend of old-fashioned detective work and cutting-edge technology, including Al-generated suspect models that helped identify the fugitive assassin

- By D.BS. Jeyaraj

An elected chairman of a Pradeshiya Sabha (divisional council) is shot dead by a lone gunman while meeting members of the public in his council office. The party to which he belongs protests strongly and calls the killing a political assassination. The cabinet minister in charge of public security makes light of the murder by alleging that the victim was a gangster with a criminal past. He dismisses it as an underworld dispute. It is against this bizarre backdrop that this column focuses on the killing of Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha chairman Lasantha Wickramasekara alias “Midigama Lasa’” this week. Let me begin with a brief outline of the murder and its aftermath.

Lasantha's own life embodied a troubling duality, a politician with public appeal and electoral success, yet shadowed by a criminal past and former ties to the drug underworld; a “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” in Sri Lankan local politics

Two men arrived on a motorcycle at the Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha office on the morning of October 22, 2025. Weligama is a coastal town in the Matara district of Sri Lanka’s southern province. It is about 144 km south of Colombo.

October 22 was a Wednesday known as a public day. It is customary for the Pradeshiya Sabha’s elected officials to meet with members of the public each Wednesday. Lasantha Wickramasekara, the 38-year-old chairman of the Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha, was seated in his office interacting with people since 9.30 am. Wickramasekara, also known as “Midigama Lasa’, was elected in the May 2025 Local authority elections from the Samagi Jana Balawegaya(S!B).